(Newser)
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The government of Qatar should foot the bill for the bomb scare aboard a Denver-bound airliner, a top Republican congressman says. “A lot of people kicked into action last night based on a perceived threat,” Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee, noted today of the antics of diplomat Mohammed al Modadi. “I don't think it’s unreasonable” that Qatar should cough it up.
Fox News puts the tab for the US Air Force—which scrambled two F-16s—at a minimum of $10,00. But the buck doesn’t stop there, with layers of law enforcement on alert, plus other first-responders. At least United Airlines didn’t incur the extra expenses of, say, putting up passengers if the flight had been forced down short of its destination—an industry spokesman says the carrier’s costs will be “marginal.”
